Ships 50 Challenge: BLoSC
by Aleine Skyfire
Summary: The 150th BLoSC piece on the site! Who is the lucky couple? Find out! -WARNING: Tissues required for the second story. ...I'll try to update someday - sorry, guys! NOTE: Embarrassing and Old, but still online for Old Time's Sake. May be updated someday.
1. 1: Young

**==1. Young==**

Watching her, the first thought to cross his mind was, _Wow. She is dog-__**gone**__ GOOD._

Young as the Princess was (and really, she couldn't have been any older than sixteen, if even that), she was already a top-notch fighter. She didn't even seem to know what she was doing – it was just instinctive.

She would make a _really_ good Ranger…

He swerved just in time to avoid a shot from a hornet, and blasted it. Then his attention returned to the young Princess. She was using a ripped-off hornet's arm as a blaster, but she was also using a far amount of martial arts. He wondered if she had a black belt, because she was just _that good_.

Then he realized something. The hornets were coming in heavier this time, and just the two of them were the only ones out here on this balcony. The guards must've joined the fighting elsewhere.

"Time to go, Your Highness!" he called.

"I can beat 'em!" she protested.

"Maybe, but I have to make sure you stay safe, or your father'll have my hide!"

She sighed. "Okay, let's go."

She ghosted him back into the palace, and they set off on a run to find help. "You're pretty good," he told her.

"Thanks!" After ten seconds, she asked, "Do you think I could make a good Ranger?"

"Princess, you could make a _great_ Ranger."

She flashed him a brilliant smile.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Short, I know, but it was all I could come up with. It's better than the original piece I wrote for this prompt – that was drabble about _half_ this long. Lol!

Thanks for this new anthology go to my friend "Elizabeth," who gave me her Ships 50 Live Journal Writing Challenge list of prompts. (Three of the prompts were changed due to inappropriate content. =P)

I know, I know – _where's __Watermark__??_ Oh, it's coming, it's coming, okay? The delay is a combination of real life interfering with my writing time and these doggone evil plot bunnies!

Lastly… this is the 150th BLoSC story on Fanfiction! I feel an absurd sense of pride!


	2. 2: Life

**==2. Life==**

_Is there someone you know_

_You're loving them so_

_But taking them all for granted?_

_You may lose them one day_

_Someone takes them away_

_And they don't hear the words you want to say_

(Chorus)

_I would give anything I own_

_Give up my life, my heart, my home_

_I would give everything I own_

_Just have you back again_

_Just to touch you once again_

– "Anything I Own," Bread

Buzz left Booster and XR sobbing their hearts out in the waiting room. He strode heavily down the med bay hall, never even pausing at the door to the room in which Mira's body lay. He couldn't do that just yet – he couldn't make himself go in there and see her… see her lifeless.

His feet took him to the parking lot, and his instincts told him to just get in the car and drive away. There was nothing more that he could do here.

He had thought that he'd go home, but instead, he found himself driving down a lonely stretch of road in a rural area not too far outside of Capital City. At last, he pulled over on the side of the road and just sat there, staring blankly ahead of him.

"_Ranger Mira Nova reporting for duty, sirs!"_

That had only been – what? – a year and a half ago? Two years at the very most.

No more than two years, but it used to feel like a lifetime ago.

Now, it felt too short.

He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white. Finally, he lowered his forehead to the wheel and…

He cried.

* * *

He did stop to see her body one last time, to say goodbye, to… _apologize_, but he _didn't_ attend the funeral.

He wouldn't have been able to stand it.

* * *

If only he could've done something to stop her from suffocating. He _knew_ that he could have.

Warp's supposed death he had had no control over. Mira's death… he was sure that he could have done _something_.

* * *

The three of them never really got over the loss. They just went out and quietly did their duty – no more of the silly repartee of the old days.

Every now and then, Booster would sniffle, and, sometimes, XR would whimper. Buzz never said a word.

By unspoken consent, they left Mira's seat alone.

* * *

Eventually, Booster and XR both got married, and Buzz was happy for them. It was good to see their faces light up once more.

For a while, he himself seriously dated Dr. Ozma Furbanna, their relationship having grown more amicable. But something just felt… _missing_.

One night, they were on a picnic. It was a beautiful night – the stars were all out, the moon was full. Very romantic.

Stroking her reddish hair, he leaned forward. She lifted her face, blue eyes expectant.

_Blue-on-yellow eyes shone with joy._

_A sweet, girlish voice murmured, "You'd never guess how much I love you."_

He broke away, startled. He managed some sort of lame excuse to an obviously ticked Ozma, but it wasn't what was in his head.

_You may have my heart, Ozma, but not my soul._

* * *

They parted ways, remaining friends but unable to consummate the relationship. Booster and XR, needless to say, were disappointed.

Years passed, and though Buzz befriended more women, he never found a mate. He couldn't marry.

No woman ever held his soul.

* * *

In odd moments out in the field, he'd see a flash of red and blue out of the corner of his eye. A hornet that he hadn't been aware of would be destroyed. Something shining would flicker in his vision, and he could swear that he had seen an older version of what Mira might have been, winking and tossing him a playful salute.

Dream, or guardian angel?

He would never know.

* * *

Once, he stepped out of his house to watch the sunset. And, for a minute, he _did_ see Mira. But the girl killed at twenty-one was not the Mira he saw. She was a woman aged as many years as he had, as if Time could not hold her memory in stasis.

Her big cerulean eyes were no longer innocent, but held the memory of battles she had never fought.

She leaned against the doorpost and turned to him, smiling. She said something, but he couldn't hear it.

"_Please_, Mira, let me hear you!"

Mira's smile faded, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "What _ought_ to be doesn't always happen."

And she was gone.

* * *

At last, he decided to try something that many people talked about, but no one had ever actually done. Was it really possible to go _back _in time to stop something from happening?

He could try.

* * *

At first, Booster and XR were thrilled with the idea, but as the years passed, so did their eagerness. After ten years, everyone had given up on it.

Everyone except Buzz.

He _had_ to make it.

* * *

For so long, he'd kept his memories of her locked away, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the pain.

Eventually, they came out, though. It hurt sometimes, sure, but it actually kept him going. Her confident smirk, her giggle, her redhead temper, her big blue eyes…

* * *

Once a year, Booster's, XR's, Ty's, and Savy's family's got together.

Buzz was the only one without a family.

He couldn't account for the redheaded boys and girls he would see out of the corner of his eye, redheads that weren't there.

In these years, he began to imagine the young woman who had been killed so long ago. He saw her as the vision of the woman he had seen at that sunset, years ago. A seasoned Ranger, a wise teacher, a mother with a fiery temper and infinite patience…

Mother? Where had that come from?

Mm, mother. Mira _would_ have made a good mother.

Buzz knew instinctively that what had happened was _not_ meant to be.

* * *

How could you love someone who was dead when you weren't sure that you even loved her when she was still alive?

He wasn't sure how that one worked.

He only knew that it _did_.

* * *

Love. It was a strange thing, all right.

He argued with her, he lost his temper with her, he _yelled his head off at her_…

But he still loved her.

He never rode in on a white horse, never gave her flowers or candy, never took her out _at all_…

But he still loved her.

He just never told her, because he never realized it until it was too late.

And as time went on, maybe _that_ was the reason he kept going.

Because he wanted the chance to tell her.

* * *

Most people would have given up _long_ before fifty years.

Even Buzz himself felt like despairing sometimes. Just throwing his hands up and walking away.

But every time he tried, he kept coming back.

Even if he couldn't _save_ her, he _had_ to _see_ her. Just one sight of her alive, didn't matter if he never even got the chance to _say_ anything…

* * *

It ended up that he never _did_ say it _directly_. But standing there, seeing her alive and happy with the rest of their team, he was satisfied.

He had given her her life back.

It was enough for him.

He just hoped that his younger self would realize sooner what it had taken him _years_ to figure out.

_I love you, Mira._

_

* * *

  
_

**Author's Note:**

Oh my word, I don't think I have _ever_ cried so much in writing my own story. Seriously now. I hope I didn't make _you_ cry too much – if I did, I'm sorry. At least you know you're not alone.

There's a video on YouTube with the song "Anything I Own," and it's for Buzz and Mira. It just fit for this story. **http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=KmH915nm4Ck**

This fic is partly inspired by a Star Wars Luke/Mara fanfic I once read (which, incidentally, makes me cry, too).

I feel too emotionally tired to ask this in my usual way, so…

Please review.


	3. 3: Hardship

**==3. Hardship==**

Buzz checked the figures again and rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. He was typing the final sentence of the financial report when Mira walked into the bedroom. "Hey, hon," she greeted with a small kiss, sounding as tired as she felt. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Finishing the financial report," he replied, completing his sentence and saving the file. He looked up at his wife. "It's not looking good. Zurg could win this war just by making us go bankrupt – we're looking at _negative_ digits now."

Mira winced. "There has to be _some_ way we can get money."

"How? Ever since he took Capital Planet and half the galaxy with her, we haven't been receiving funding. Our savings could only last so long, and now they're gone." Buzz wasn't one to give in to gloom-and-doom – nope, usually, he was the most irritatingly optimistic person _ever _to grace the galaxy with his presence. But their situation was looking _bad_ – tail-end-of-hope kind of bad.

Mira sank onto the bed and pulled her knees up to her chin. "Maybe Daddy could –"

"He needs all the money he has to keep his own military going," Buzz cut in. He shook his head and lowered it. "I just don't see how we're going to get through this."

Mira got off the bed and moved over to the desk, wrapping her arms around Buzz from behind and resting her chin on his broad shoulder. "We will," she said softly. "Remember how you used to say, 'Evil never wins'? Well, now Evil's won, but it's not permanent – you know that. God has the ultimate victory."

Buzz sighed. "I know. It's just so easy to lose sight of the fact sometimes."

Mira reached down and pulled both his hands up, stroking his wedding ring. "For richer or poorer," she said, reciting their vows. Sometimes, it just felt comforting to say them.

"Well, this is poorer, all right," Buzz nodded.

"In sickness and in health."

"And watching each other's backs," he added with a small smirk.

"To love, honor, and cherish."

"Forsaking all others for as we both shall live," Buzz finished, stroking Mira's wedding ring in turn. "Forever."

"Forever," Mira repeated softly. She moved around the back of the chair and lowered herself onto his lap. Buzz protectively wrapped his arms around her. "We're gonna make it through this."

Buzz nodded, closing his eyes, inhaling the scent of magnolias that hung on her. "It's easier to believe now."

Mira closed her eyes, too, snuggling up against him. "Mm-hmm. Through good times and bad times," she added drowsily."

"Forever."

**Author's Note:**

Mira's magnolia scent _and_ the vows come from 100D.

Zurg is actually winning for once? I know, I know, it's unfair to leave the story here and not continue it, but, sorry, it's just a one-shot. If you want to take the idea and turn it into a fic, be my guest, just so long as you credit me – thank you!

_Watermark _might not receive an update until the weekend, but it's for a good reason, because...

I've _finally _overcome my severe writer's block with my fantasy novel!! Thank You, Lord! I am _so _energized (read: _hyper_) about this! New prologue, here I come!

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**


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